Postcard from Sochi: 'Winter' Games hotter than ever

A member of the Canadian team takes advantage of warm weather to work out on his balcony in Olympic Village at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2014. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/MCT)

SOCHI, Russia -- It's time to talk about the weather. Sorry, can't help it. I'm a Minnesotan, a very lucky one who has managed to escape our winter from hell.

All it took was a $2,800 plane ticket and an assignment at the first subtropical Winter Olympics.

It was 63 degrees Tuesday in Sochi; at least, that's what my thermometer read. I can't remember 63 degrees, the last time I walked with clean concrete under my feet or without a jacket -- September maybe?

It helps navigating multiple bus stops during 12-hour days not to scrape permafrost off your cheeks. Every morning I have left my hotel, the sun is shining; there's a gentle breeze; and it feels like I'm wandering through a meadow, until a stray dog wanders by to remind me I'm in an "emerging" democracy.

Even in the snowy mountains, the temperature reportedly is in the high 40s, with bare-chested Russian dudes in the bleachers as if they were at Wrigley Field in July. I'm heading up there Tuesday to cover Bloomington's Keri Herman, a medal contender in the new sport of slopestyle skiing.

Winter Olympics in a summer climate, outdoor hockey at Dodger Stadium? Maybe we should merge the St. Paul Winter Carnival with the State Fair.